A front-end loader is an extremely versatile apparatus which is useful in agricultural and construction industries. A typical front-end loader has a self-propelled frame mounted on wheels or the like with a boom assembly including an implement lifting mechanism including a pair of laterally spaced lift arms and an implement tilting mechanism. An implement is connected to a forward end of the boom assembly.
The versatility of the apparatus is enhanced if a variety of different implements may be interchangeably connected to the boom assembly. As an example, a dirt bucket may be connected to the boom assembly for one operation, while a snowplow, manure fork, forklift, or a myriad of other implements may be connected to the boom assembly to perform other operations. As will be appreciated, considerable time and effort can be realized by an efficient mechanism allowing for quick removal of one implement and attachment of another to the boom assembly.
Since the ease and rapidity of connecting or fastening an implement to the boom assembly greatly affects the utility and economy of the front-end loader, there have been a number of different proposals in the prior art to effect such ends. The problem of providing such a quick attaching mechanism is accentuated by the desire that such mechanisms operate automatically in connecting the implement to the boom assembly and by the working environment in which the front-end loader finds utility. Changing design characteristics of the front-end loader further complicate the ability to provide an automatically operated quick attaching mechanism which may be universally used to releasably attach different implements to the front end of a boom assembly.
One form of a known quick attaching mechanism includes a female coupling structure which is welded integrally to the implement and a male coupling structure. The male coupling structure is attached to the end of the boom assembly and is adapted to be selectively coupled and uncoupled to the female coupling structure. When the male coupling structure is fastened to the female coupling structure, the implement may be selectively lifted and lowered with the implement lifting mechanism and may be selectively tilted by the implement tilting mechanism. A relatively complicated hydraulic or manually activated wedge mechanism releasably fastens the male coupling structure to the female coupling structure.
Notably, the male coupling structure is attached to the forward end of the boom assembly forward of the wheels on the loader. As the front-end loader is operated, mud, dirt, sand, rocks and other abrasive materials found in the working environment are thrown by the wheels toward the implement and the quick attaching mechanism. Wearing surfaces on the wedge mechanism are exposed to the abrasive materials and it has been observed that such materials accumulate sufficiently to render the wedge mechanism inoperative. The ease, convenience and rapidity of attaching an implement to the boom assembly is therefore offset by the repair and maintenance times required to maintain the wedging mechanism in operative order.
Rather than wedge mechanisms, other quick attaching mechanisms use pins for attaching the male coupling structure to the female coupling structure. With today's increasing power demands, the configuration of the front-end loader changes to accommodate larger engine sizes. When the configuration of the front-end loader changes, however, the lateral spacing between the loader lift arms of the lift mechanism is also affected. With some front-end loaders, the lateral spacing between the lift arms can range between about 42 inches and about 55 inches.
The female coupling structure of known quick attaching mechanisms which use pins typically includes mounting brackets or flanges which extend rearwardly from a rear surface of the implement to be attached to the boom assembly. The mounting brackets of the female coupling structures conventionally define apertures which slidably receive the pins carried by the male coupling structures. Most pin-type quick attaching mechanisms generally align the mounting flanges on the implement with the loader lift arms. When the lateral spacing between the loader lift arms and the mounting flanges secured to the implement are not compatible, however, the pins used to attach the male and female coupling structures are rendered inoperative and the versatility of the quick attaching mechanism is lost.
A similar implement having compatible spacing between the mounting flanges of the female structure and the particular lateral spacing between the lift arms of the boom assembly will allow the implement to be connected to the loader. Such costly investments in similar implements may be avoided by realigning the mounting flanges on the implement to be compatible with the lateral spacing between the lift arms of the boom assembly. Such modifications are labor-intensive, costly, and, unless performed accurately, will not always achieve the desired results.